Quick Homemade Christmas Gift: Chocolate Bark

I’m sure that I’m not the only one who has seen masses of ideas for homemade Christmas gifts floating around the interwebs. One of the very very easiest and customisable gifts to make is Chocolate Bark.

For our annual Christmas gathering (which is a tradition amongst Mr B’s uni friends) I wanted to do simple and yummy favour bags. Paying homage to our recent trip to the US, I created two ‘all-american’ combinations using candy canes, crispy m&ms, oreos, and salted pretzels.

Since I was buying the chocolate in bulk and had no time available to pop by the Chocolate Place in Inverness which would have been my preferred option as I do like to buy local when I can, I opted for 74% cocoa from Tesco. I’ve used this before and have found it a good option for ganache and frostings. 800g of this does a good thick layer of two 9×13″ trays. I also bought 100g of a white chocolate blended with vanilla seeds.

It really is as simple as this (hence no pictures)

1. Line two 9×13″ roasting tins (I used dishes rather than trays) with baking parchment that comes up over the side. Don’t skimp on the baking parchment, it’s better to have a couple of inches spare than having just enough.

2. Chop up your toppings. Not being able to find our mortar and pestle to crush the candy canes, I improvised with a metal potato masher. I’m sure a rolling pin or other implement would work just as well.

3. Melt your chocolate in a bowl over a low simmering heat.

4. Pour the chocolate into the tins. The high sides support the paper that is holding the chocolate so there are no dirty tins to scrape here!.

5. Add generous helpings of your toppings. No-one likes a scrooge, especially with toppings at Christmas! I then drizzled/added big drops of the melted white chocolate on top.

6. Stack in a fridge for a couple of hours, then cut up into shards and wrap (I used cellophane bags). These will easily keep for a few days in the fridge until they are ready to be nibbled upon!

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I'm Susan and welcome to Mess in the Ness - a collection of foodie, lifestyle and travel posts. Stay and have a look around my little corner of Scotland! To find out more about me and this blog, check out my
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